90 years ago this month, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed in this small down near Shreveport

Henrietta Wildsmith, Shreveport Times
·2 min read
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The echoes of the gunshots from 90 years ago will be heard again the weekend of May 24 when the town of Gibsland hosts the Bonnie and Clyde Festival, marking the anniversary milestone of the deadly ambush that still brings people to this small Louisiana town less than an hour east of Shreveport.

“Dallas Desperado and His Gun Girl Staged Two-Year Reign of Terror,” reads a May 24, 1934, Shreveport Times headline.

“They met their death just as they had skipped across the country - with a machine gun and pistols at arm’s reach – in a fast automobile frantically trying to move from one place to another before officers learned their whereabouts,” The Tmes story goes on to describe the ill-fated couple.

The May 24, 1934 edition of The Shreveport Times featuring the death of Bonnie and Clyde.
The May 24, 1934 edition of The Shreveport Times featuring the death of Bonnie and Clyde.

Displayed on another page are graphic photos by Times photographer John B. Gasquet of the bullet ridden car, the bodies of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and last, a photo of the Texas and Louisiana lawmen who brought them down after the outlaws murderous crime spree.

The May 23, 1934 death by ambush of the two fugitives heightened their infamous legends that continue to reverberate today. From books, movies, TV and song, some closer to fiction than fact, each new generation is introduced to Bonnie and Clyde.

Perhaps no nurtures that legend better than Perry Carver, owner of the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum located on Main Street in Gibsland, “Movies just do it an injustice; the real story is just captivating,” Carver said.

Carver sees the continuing fascination with the young doomed desperados every day as people come to his museum from around the world.

Perry Carver is the owner of the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.
Perry Carver is the owner of the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.

Carver has shared their fascination ever since he was a child and saw the actual death car riddled with bullets.  “Their (legend) is going to (live on) just like Jesse James and Billy the Kid; they'll never go away.”

His close friend L.J. "Boots" Hinton was the longtime manager of the museum. When he died in 2012, Carver took ownership. Since then, Carver has added more and more exhibits to fill the museum with Bonnie and Clyde memorabilia.

Back in 1923 the building was Ma Canfield’s Café. “Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow stopped at 9 a.m. on May 23, 1934, picked up sandwiches and drove off to their deaths seven miles away,” reads the sign out front.

That spot, seven miles down on a two lane road surrounded by trees, is marked with a gravestone shaped monument off to the side. On the top of the marker are a handful of coins left by visitors as well as a bullet shell to commemorate their violet deaths.

The festival is in it’s 31st year. It begins Friday May 24 with a historian dinner. Saturday morning begins with a pancake breakfast before the day-long festivities. For more information visit their Facebook Page.

Inside the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.
Inside the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.
Inside the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.
Inside the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Bonnie and Clyde legend lives on 90 years after ambush in Louisiana